


Faults

by Aaron_The_8th_Demon



Series: 5 Missed Shots, 1 Game-Winner [3]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: 2015-2016 NHL Season, Clueless Patrice, M/M, Pining, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-08-19 17:58:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20213926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaron_The_8th_Demon/pseuds/Aaron_The_8th_Demon
Summary: The thing is, too, that the lines are very blurred for Patrice and Brad by now. Between pretty much every goal celly they do together and openly shouting “I love you!” at each other on the ice, sometimes Patrice almost feels like they actually *are* in a relationship even though they’re not. The weird part is he doesn’t mind that. He kind of loves it, even. He’s really bad at dating and his bizarre friendship with Brad usually fills that hole so effectively that he doesn’t even care about not having a girlfriend (or a boyfriend).





	Faults

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm impatient, which means updates will actually be every 3 days instead of every 6 like I originally intended.

November 3rd is their first game against the Stars for the season - which means that November 2nd sees Brad invite Patrice to come hang out with him and Tyler for a couple hours.

“Does ‘hang out’ equal ‘getting drunk?’” Patrice sighs into his phone.

“No! We’re gonna… uh… something else. Not that.”

“Really, what then?”

“We’ll go eat! I know you can’t cook, bro, so you should come with us.”

Patrice rolls his eyes. “Fine. But no drinking, we have a game tomorrow night.”

“Yeah, I know we do, why else would Segs be here?” Brad cackles on the other end.

“You should bring Liam,” Patrice suggests, mainly because he wants to just straight-up avoid getting asked The Question from Tyler.

“Uh… no, that’s not gonna happen. Liam broke up with me.”

“How long?”

“Like two days ago.”

“Oh.” Patrice swallows. “Sorry. What happened?”

“The same thing that always happens. Look, that’s not important, you’re definitely gonna come eat with us, right?”

“Yeah, Marchy, I’ll go out with you guys.”

“Great, I’m picking him up anyway so I’ll come get you, too.”

They hang up and Patrice starts kicking himself. Yes, Brad is his best friend and normally he’s always up for spending time together outside the rink, but not so much when Tyler Seguin is involved. Because Tyler always asks if they’re together, and Patrice can never tell if he’s joking or not. He’s just sick of being asked that, because he doesn’t date team mates for one and for another he’s also still not actually out. As far as most people know, including the majority of the Bruins roster, Patrice is a straight man’s straight man.

He spends the next couple of hours fidgeting and pacing in his kitchen - he doesn’t know why he agreed to this. He doesn’t want to deal with Tyler. More specifically, he doesn’t want to deal with Tyler while also facing the fact that he managed to end another one of Brad’s relationships without lifting a finger. Patrice is in a chronic state of minor self-loathing, because he doesn’t know how to help Brad get over him and move on to someone better. That’s what he wants, really. The idea that his best friend is so unhappy because of him is fucking unbearable.

The thing is, too, that the lines are very blurred for Patrice and Brad by now. Between pretty much every goal celly they do together and openly shouting “I love you!” at each other on the ice, sometimes Patrice almost feels like they actually _ are _ in a relationship even though they’re not. The weird part is he doesn’t mind that. He kind of loves it, even. He’s really bad at dating and his bizarre friendship with Brad usually fills that hole so effectively that he doesn’t even care about not having a girlfriend (or a boyfriend). Patrice dates only rarely and doesn’t get laid very often, mainly because of a strange dilemma where he has a stupidly hard time feeling sexually attracted to people unless he already knows them pretty well.

All of this is on his mind when Brad texts him to come out to the car. He throws on his jacket and shoes while juggling thoughts of how Tyler is going to be annoying and ask why they’re still not a couple and how Seids once also had that same question. He’d answered very carefully, saying as little as possible because Seids wasn’t there after they won the Cup and doesn’t know about the drunk kissing: _ I love Marchy, just not that way. He’s my best friend. _ And this is how he intends to answer anyone else asking that in the future, because it’s true. He does love Brad, the way anyone loves his best bud, the guy he talks to about everything and can most be himself with. (Except… he’s never explained that to Brad, because he’s not cruel by nature and doesn’t want to get Brad’s hopes up or anything. Patrice has been turning him down for too long, now. So he can’t say it to Brad’s face anywhere but on the ice, because on the ice the things you say don’t translate to real life most of the time.)

Patrice gets into Brad’s car and braces himself for the inevitable.

“Hey, Bergy,” Tyler grins, twisting around in the front passenger seat. “Ready to get your ass kicked tomorrow?”

“We’re on a winning streak, don’t get your hopes up,” Brad cuts in before Patrice can say anything.

“Whatever you say, bro. Hey Bergs how come you’re not dating anyone?”

Patrice rolls his eyes. “Because women are interested in me for being a rich hockey player, not for the actual ‘me’ part. I know for you that’s enough, but I want an actual relationship.”

Tyler laughs. “Yeah, okay. Maybe you should just date guys, then.”

The direction this is heading is obvious, but thankfully Brad steps in for once. “Bro, knock it off, okay?”

“What? Every time I come back and see you guys, neither of you is with anybody. You should seriously just date each other, it’s the perfect solution!”

Brad, at least, waits until they’re at a stoplight before slugging Tyler in the bicep as hard as he can. He’s grinning as he does it, but Patrice can tell he isn’t actually trying to be funny for once. This topic still upsets him and he doesn’t want to rehash it for the hundredth time.

“Why am I friends with you, Seggy? You’re such a shit…”

“You love me,” Tyler cackles even as he rubs his arm.

“Let’s get him drunk and leave him somewhere,” Brad suggests, addressing Patrice.

“I think if we did that Jamie Benn would come after us,” Patrice chuckles. “That wouldn’t end very well, he’s bigger than you and I’m not very good at fighting.”

“You need more practice,” Tyler heckles. “Also yeah, Jamie would totally show up and kick your ass, bro.”

“Dude how about you go date Jamie? Then you can hassle us for not being together, you need to be with one of your team mates first because right now you’re just a fucking hypocrite.”

“That wouldn’t really work, Marchy. He’s married and I’m straight.”

“Well, shut the fuck up about it, then.”

“Where are we eating?” Patrice asks, desperately trying to derail this conversation with a question he already knows the answer to.

Or maybe he doesn’t. “We’re gonna have Thai food,” Brad answers.

“Really? Not Italian?”

“Nah, figured we should mix it up a bit.”

“Oh, okay. Cool.”

So instead of one kind of noodles there’s going to be a different kind of noodles. Good to know. Patrice doesn’t mind, Thai food is alright.

“Dude, I just found another barbeque place we gotta try the next time you guys have an away against us,” Tyler informs them. “I know I always say that, but it’s fucking Texas. Every time I find a barbeque place that seems like it’s the best one, like two months later I’ll find a new one that’s even better.”

“But you’ve been there for like three years,” Brad points out.

“Two and a half.”

“Whatever.”

Patrice tunes out their bickering throughout the rest of the short drive. He doesn’t know why he always gets roped into going out with Tyler when their teams have games, because even though it’s been years Tyler is still a rambunctious child at best. He’s a goofball who runs his mouth kind of the same way as Brad, but unlike Brad seems to be making no effort to have even a little bit of a filter between the things he thinks and the things he says. Brad, at least, is trying to grow up and learn on a very small and basic level by now. Besides that, Brad can also be charming when he wants, and his bright, open expressions more than make up for the fact that he and most other people (Patrice not included) don’t find him visually pleasing. Tyler’s behavior isn’t particularly endearing and besides that he’s one of those guys who knows how hot people think he looks, which goes right to his head.

“Hey Bergs, when’s the last time you got laid?” Tyler asks suddenly, rudely dragging him back to the real world.

“What? Why do you even care?”

“Dude, leave him alone, he wasn’t listening to us,” Brad snorts.

“A couple of months,” Patrice lies. (It’s actually been almost a year.) “Again, why?”

“Because Marchy’s all wound up and he clearly needs to get nailed,” Tyler snickers. They’re pulling into the parking lot as he says this, which means Brad can immediately park and join Patrice in giving him the death glare to end all death glares. He actually seems to shrink a little. “Wow. So we still can’t joke about that?”

“Why can’t we just leave him somewhere again?” Brad gripes as they get out of the car.

“Because Jamie Benn will kill both of us. Also this entire outing was your idea, Bradley.”

“Hmph.”

“Jesus, when did you guys stop being fun?” Tyler wonders, obviously trying as hard as he can to sound as dickish as possible. “Especially you, Marchy, you need to lighten the hell up. Also you’re literally the last person I thought I’d have to say that to.”

They go into the restaurant… it’s not actually a restaurant, it’s more of a fast-food place that does a bunch of different Asian stuff and not just Thai. This is mostly because Tyler has curfew and has to be back with his team at the hotel in a couple hours, so they can’t really dawdle waiting for actual food. Patrice ends up sitting in the corner with Tyler while Brad waits up front for their order.

“So what’s up with you guys, anyway? I know you’re sick of me talking about this shit but you wander around making heart eyes at each other without just being together like you fucking should be.”

Patrice sighs impatiently at him. “I don’t date team mates. It’s unprofessional.”

“Bro, he has such a thing for you. Plus you boned him while you were drunk.”

“Yeah, I’m aware of that.”

“Don’t you think you owe him something better than that?” Tyler wonders. “At the fucking _ least, _ man, you owe him better sex. He deserves that much and you know it.”

“Okay, first of all, like I said I don’t date team mates. Second, I don’t need to get talked to about this by someone who at any given moment can’t actually name all the places his dick has been in the past week. Third, this is none of your god damn business, Segs.”

“I didn’t say anything about dating, man. You can probably just do it as a hook-up. Also I know where my dick’s been.”

“You missed the part about it not being any of your business.”

“What? I’m tryna look out for my bros.”

“You’re being a dick and you know it.”

Brad appears without warning, holding a tray of food: “Wow, Seggy! You got him to swear!”

Tyler ignores Brad and rolls his eyes at Patrice. “Just think about it, man.”

They’re all quiet for a few minutes as they chow down. Patrice, despite his best efforts, _ is _ thinking about it now. He hates himself just a little more than he already has been when he realizes that Tyler’s actually right, and he probably does owe Brad better sex. He also doesn’t know why he couldn’t figure that out on his own and the idea had to be introduced to him. But it makes sense. They were smashed back then, Patrice still doesn’t remember a single second of it. Brad deserves better… Brad deserves only the best. Patrice should’ve been better and maybe it _is_ time that he made it up to his best friend.

Then logic appears and saves him from this thought. Because yeah, Patrice could go through with this dumbass idea and Brad would probably let him. But Brad is in love with Patrice and Patrice isn’t in love with Brad, so from an emotional standpoint hooking up for a one-night thing would be unforgivably cruel to his best friend. It’s been too long, too. Maybe if Patrice had tried something like this within two weeks of The Incident he could’ve gotten away with it, but now it’s been four and a half years, so it seems pretty unacceptable to go for it. Besides any of that, random sex hook-ups are a great way to destroy friendships, which is reason enough by itself not to try this.

“Bergy aren’t you gonna eat?”

“Huh?”

Brad frowns and actually looks… kind of worried. “Are you getting sick, man? You keep zoning out on us.”

“No, I’m fine. Just thinking.”

“Oh okay… well you actually have brain cells and shit, so I guess it makes sense,” Brad jokes.

“No he doesn’t, he’s just good at pretending,” Tyler chirps.

“You’re such a dick, Seggy.”

“No, he’s actually kind of right about that one,” Patrice puts in. “People think I’m smarter than I actually am.”

“Dude you’re smart, you at least actually think about shit before you do it,” Brad argues with a self-depreciating grin.

This somehow devolves into an argument between Brad and Tyler about who’s dumber. Patrice tries to finish his spicy basil-flavored rice noodles in a timely manner since he spent so long daydreaming about trying to fuck his best friend again, tuning out the other two and their pointless bickering chirps. He refuses to think any further about how he does, in fact, owe Brad better sex.

**Author's Note:**

> So… I don't know that much about Tyler Seguin, but from what I've heard on the internet he's not that bright. He's mostly a plot device in this series.
> 
> Part 4 will arrive on August 18.
> 
> Please comment.


End file.
